Carnivores (Order Carnivora)

Carnivores are animals belonging to the Order Carnivora. The Order Carnivora contains 7 families and about 250 species. This group of animals includes dogs and their relatives, bears, racoons, mustelids, civits, hyenas, aardwolf, and cats.

Carnivores have adapted to a hunting lifestyle in a number of ways. Most members of the Order Carnivora are swift runners, the posess sharp teeth, superb eyesight, a well-developed sense of smell, sharp claws, and specialized teeth.

Classification:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum Chordata
• Class Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora

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Habitat: As a group, members of the Order Carnivora have worldwide distribution and inhabit a wide range of habitat types.

Diet: Most carnivores consume diets that consist entirely of meat. Some carnivores such as bears and foxes eat meat and plants. A few carnivores, such as the giant panda, eat only plants. Meat-eating carnivores catch animal prey of various sizes (insects, invertebrates, and vertebrates). Carrion feeders (such as the hyena) occasionally feed on prey killed by other animals.

Members of Order Carnivora: The Order Carnivora is subdivided into the following families:

• dogs, coyotes, foxes, wolves, jackals (Family Canidae)
• bears (Family Ursidae)
• raccoons and relatives (Family Procyonidae)
• cats (Family Felidae)
• mongooses (Family Herpestidae)
• civets and relatives (Family Viverridae)
• hyenas and aardwolf (Family Hyaenidae)
• badgers, otters, weasels, skunks (Family Mustelidae)
• walruses (Family Odobenidae)
• sea lions, fur seals (Family Otariidae)
• seals (Family Phocidae)